


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Matt and Grace

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [28]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 04:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: It’s been three weeks since Natasha gave Danny his dog, and she still hasn’t made any progress on choosing a dog for Matt. She’s sitting up at 11pm in the living room on her personal floor, trying to find a dog online that she thinks would be good for him, but she’s drawing a blank, and it’s really starting to get on her nerves. She sighs, pushing her tablet to the side and standing, stretching as she pulls on a hoodie and heads for the elevator.“Ground floor please, JARVIS,” she says, “I’m going on a walk. Text me if I’m needed for anything?”





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Matt and Grace

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the series, or if you're new here, welcome! This part is about Matt and Grace. Enjoy!

It’s been three weeks since Natasha gave Danny his dog, and she still hasn’t made any progress on choosing a dog for Matt. She’s sitting up at 11pm in the living room on her personal floor, trying to find a dog online that she thinks would be good for him, but she’s drawing a blank, and it’s really starting to get on her nerves. She sighs, pushing her tablet to the side and standing, stretching as she pulls on a hoodie and heads for the elevator.

 

“Ground floor please, JARVIS,” she says, “I’m going on a walk. Text me if I’m needed for anything?”

 

“Of course, Ms. Romanoff,” Jarvis answers. “Enjoy your evening.” Natasha steps out into the lobby and heads out, walking towards Hell’s Kitchen. Maybe she can find some inspiration if she just heads that way, who knows, she’s seen stranger things happen lately. She’s walking through a neighborhood when she sees a dog chained down outside on the front lawn of one of the houses, and she stops, walking over to crouch down on the sidewalk in front of the house.

 

“Hi, kid. Mind if I come say hi?” Natasha holds her hand out, and the dog stands up, slowly walking as close to Natasha as the chain allows. Natasha carefully approaches, keeping her body low to the ground to seem less threatening, just in case. The dog isn’t showing any signs of aggression or fear, but it never hurts to be sure.

 

She gets close enough for the dog to sniff her hand, licking her palm, and she’s about to start petting the dog when the door to the house opens with a bang, and the dog skitters backwards, cowering in fear. “What are you doing to my dog?” The owner demands, and Natasha glares at the man.

 

“Being kind to her, petting her, something you clearly never do,” Natasha says flatly, and the man glares back at her.

 

“The bitch doesn’t need kindness, she’s meant to be a guard dog, but she’s always been fucking miserable at doing anything right.”

 

Natasha has the knife drawn from her boot and pressed to the man’s throat before she can think about what she’s doing, which is probably a sign that she needs to go back to doing her mindfulness exercises, but she pushes that thought away. “Every dog deserves kindness. Do you think police dogs bite people on command but refuse to bite their own handlers because their handlers abuse them? Do you think that dogs would protect small children with their fucking lives because they’re scared of the children? You’re exactly the kind of person that abuses their children for fun.”

 

She slides the knife back into her boot, stepping back away from the man, who’s standing perfectly still, his back against the wall of his house. “I’m taking the dog.” Natasha walks over to where the chain is bolted down to the ground, yanking the spike out of the ground and gathering up the chain in her arms.

 

“Fine, I didn’t want her anyway,” the guy calls, and Natasha just flips him off over her shoulder, walking back to the sidewalk and patting her leg to call the dog over. The dog follows her slowly until they’re out of sight of the house, and then Natasha crouches down, holds her hand out again and when the dog licks her hand, she scratches the dog behind the ears, smiling.

 

“Yeah, you’re a good girl. Let’s get you home. I think I know the perfect person for you.” They head home, the dog trotting happily at Natasha’s side, and Jarvis lets them into the elevator without question, taking them back to Natasha’s personal floor.

 

Once they’re there, Natasha grabs one of the cereal bowls out of her kitchen cabinet and fills it with water, setting it down for the dog, and undoes the collar, dropping the chain in a heap in the corner. She settles back down on her couch, grabbing her tablet again. She’s going to have some work ahead of her.

 

* * *

 

In the morning, Natasha names the dog Grace, and she texts a picture of Grace to a group chat with Frank, Luke, Danny, and Jessica, with the caption “meet Grace!” and a smiling devil emoji. The responses make Natasha laugh.

 

**Frank:** Thank fuck, someone needs to look out for that dumbass.

 

**Luke:** Thanks Natasha! We appreciate it.

 

**Danny:** she’s so cute!!!! :D :D omg, call her hellhound so she can match daredevil!! can u train a dog to parkour? u should train her to parkour!!

 

**Jessica:** don’t be a dumbass Danny. but also that’s funny as fuck. do it Nat. good luck with getting Murdock to accept the help though, he’s seriously a self hating idiot.

 

Natasha rolls her eyes, putting her phone back in her pocket, and takes Grace down to the communal floor. No one’s there yet, so she asks Jarvis to warn everyone about Grace being there, and she gets to work on testing Grace’s commands and treat motivation. Grace doesn’t know much of anything, but she’s starving and takes every treat Natasha offers her, and Natasha seriously has to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down so she doesn't go back and actually stab that guy. Who treats a dog like this?

 

She hasn’t had much time to get herself any more worked up when the elevator dings, and Steve and Verity step out, still a little out of breath from their run. “New dog, huh?” Steve asks, and Natasha turns, nodding.

 

“Yeah. Can she meet Verity?”

 

Steve nods. “Sure. Say hi, Verity.” Verity steps forward, tail wagging, and Grace waits until Verity’s only a few feet away before moving, stepping forward slowly and letting Verity sniff her. She sniffs back, and the dogs have just started to get used to each other when Bucky and Fubar come out of the elevator, Bucky still in his pajamas and yawning as he heads towards the kitchen to start making breakfast.

 

“Say hi, Foobs,” Bucky says, and Fubar wanders away from his side to meet Grace. The rest of the team slowly makes their way to the communal floor because no one wants to miss out on Bucky’s breakfast, and each of the dogs slowly gets introduced to Grace, letting the new dog adjust to everyone.

 

It’s not until everyone’s had at least one cup of coffee and one plate of Bucky’s food that most of the room finally starts to wake up enough to talk to anyone. “So, what’s the name, and who are they for?” Tony asks Natasha, pointing his fork in the dog’s direction.

 

“Grace, and she’s for Matt.”

 

“Oh thank god,” Clint says, “That man’s got issues. And not just the sexy kind, like how his suit accents his ass just a little too perfectly, but also the non-sexy kind, like genuine mental health issues.”

 

“Yes, thanks for the clarification, Clint, and for the completely unnecessary horniness this early in the morning,” Bucky says from where he’s making the next batch of french toast, and Clint shrugs.

 

“What? It’s true.”

 

Natasha sighs. “Yeah, well, I’m going to need to start her training soon. And Tony, I want to talk to you about some stuff for Matt besides just service dog gear.”

 

Tony perks up. “Sure, I can do that. Give me a minute to drink another cup of coffee or two, and I’ll be right with you.”

 

* * *

 

Natasha talks to Tony about making Matt sensory friendly noise cancelling headphones, because she figures that most of the ones on the market probably aren’t going to be comfortable for an already-overwhelmed person with super senses, and Tony jumps on the project, coming up with a few different options over the course of three weeks. She also talks to Tony about making sure that all of Grace’s gear is equally sensory friendly, and he jumps on that project as well.

 

While Tony works on gear, Natasha works on Grace’s training and health, taking her to multiple veterinarians to have her hips and elbows checked, her growth plates checked, and to get their opinions on what to do for Grace’s weight. The overall conclusion is that Grace has a naturally fast metabolism and high energy and working drive, so she’s going to need a lot of food to keep her healthy.

 

Her hips and elbows come back in good ranges, her growth plates are good, and by the veterinarians’ best estimate she's about three years old, so Natasha works on basic obedience with her while Grace builds up strength and muscle mass, and when she’s at a healthy weight, Natasha starts teaching her all of her different tasks.

 

She starts with teaching Grace how to get help if Matt’s hurt. She’d thought about it for a while, and she’d finally decided to teach Grace both how to stay beside Matt and bark for help as well as how to leave Matt’s side and go looking for someone to help. If Matt was already overwhelmed, Grace barking was only going to make it worse, and if Matt was in a place without many people around, Grace was going to have to go find help for him.

 

Grace is a quick learner, and even when Natasha asks her to get help while on Natasha’s personal floor, Grace goes to the elevator, gets in, and waits for JARVIS to take her to a level with people on it to get help. Tony had made her a patch that says “If I’m alone, my handler needs you! Follow Me!” and it seems to work, because the three times Natasha had sent Grace to get help, she’d returned with a different person from the tower each time, first Steve, then Bruce, then Rhodey.

 

Natasha’s honestly proud of Grace’s ability to task. She teaches Grace how to retrieve any of the noise cancelling headphones Tony’s made if Natasha asks for them or if she’s mimicking Frank’s descriptions of Matt’s sensory overload, curled up in a ball with her hands over her ears. She also teaches Grace to do deep pressure therapy when Matt’s experiencing sensory overload and to alert Matt to changes in the environment so he doesn’t have to worry about being “truly blind” with the headphones on.

 

She teaches Grace to do both guiding out of environments and standard guide dog work, and how to do a lot of the same PTSD tasks that most of the other service dogs know as well. Based on what his teammates have told her, Matt can struggle in crowded environments, seems to have various triggers related to cars and boxing matches, and he has a significant temper, so Natasha teaches Grace to alert to anger and anxiety episodes, to block between Matt and others, and to indicate who’s in a room and where, because despite the heightened senses, Matt still sometimes feels better having what he perceives confirmed as true.

 

When Grace has learned all of her obedience commands and tasks and she’s consistent on all of them, Natasha gets Matt’s number from Jessica and calls him, asking if she can come over. Matt agrees, giving her his address, and then hangs up. Natasha gears Grace up and heads out from the tower.

 

Natasha hasn’t even raised her hand to knock on the door when Matt answers it. “You brought a dog,” he says, leaving the door open and walking back towards his living room, and Natasha steps inside, closing the door behind her and following Matt.

 

“Yes, I did. Her name’s Grace.” Matt walks into the kitchen, pulling out two glasses and filling them with water from the sink. He hands one to Natasha, then moves past her to sit on the couch.

 

“You do remember the part where I have heightened senses, right? I don’t need a guide dog, the cane is just for appearances.”

 

Natasha sits down in the chair across from the couch, and Grace lays down by her feet. “I know you don’t need a guide dog, and the heightened senses are exactly why I got her for you. I talked to your teammates. They think you’re experiencing a lot of sensory overload, and that you have significant anger issues and past trauma. I haven’t spent much time around you, but from what I’ve seen, I’m inclined to agree.” Natasha leans forward. “This isn’t meant as an insult, Murdock. It’s meant as support. Because despite what you might have learned in childhood, or church, self sacrifice isn’t necessary.”

 

The joke is enough to make the corners of Matt’s mouth turn up in the beginnings of a smile. “Fine. So what all does she know?”

 

If there’s one thing Natasha loves about Matt, it’s that he’s clear, concise. He’s a lawyer, so he weighs arguments for a living, and he knows when he’s in an argument he can't win. “A lot. I’ll teach you two how to work together. Shall we start now?”

 

Matt nods, so Natasha stands up, and starts to walk Matt through Grace’s commands.

 

* * *

 

It’s a few weeks after Matt and Grace start working together that Natasha gets a text from Matt. “Can Tony make Grace a suit kind of like mine?” The text reads. A second text comes through almost immediately. “Apparently she wants to do DD work with me. And she’s good at keeping up, too.” Natasha shakes her head in disbelief, but she goes down to Tony’s workshop, because that’s almost all the man seems to do, and asks. Tony’s face lights up like it’s Christmas.

 

“Oh, I would  _ love _ to make that happen. Give me a few hours, I already had some rough schematics going, but I’ll need to make sure it’ll work properly.” Four and a half hours later, Tony appears on the communal floor with two bundled up suits.

 

“Okay, so. Grace’s is highly adaptable, it’ll adjust around her. Think like my suits from Mark 46 on that have nanotech. Easy to get on and off, and she’ll be able to run, jump, twist, turn, and even pee and poop, the suit will make openings for her to do her business, because I’m guessing Murdock is out doing his thing for more than just a few hours. It’s virtually indestructible, shock absorbent, and completely covering. I made one for Murdock, too.” Tony hands her both suits, reaching down to scratch Diva behind the ears absentmindedly. “If they need any improvements, just have him let me know, okay?”

 

“I’m sure they’ll be perfect, Tony. Thank you.” Natasha takes the suits into the elevator with her and calls Matt, letting him now she’s on the way. He confirms that he’s at home, and Natasha meets him there, giving him the suits. “Tony made one for you, too,” Natasha says when Matt holds the two suits out in confusion.

 

“I’m fine with what I’ve got, I’m kind of attached to it,” Matt tells her, “but I’ll hold onto it just in case. Thank you, Nat.”

 

“Of course. You matter to us, Murdock. We’re always going to do whatever we can to help you.”

 

* * *

 

By the end of the week, the news outlets are talking about Daredevil’s new sidekick, dubbing her ‘Hellhound,’ and Danny sends a text to the new group chat that includes Matt with a picture of the headline that he puts an image description for, and the caption “didn’t i tell u that was a good name?!?!” Natasha rolls her eyes, but Jessica beats her to the answer.

 

**Jessica:** Danny, shut up, no one cares.

 

**Danny:** ur just mean :(

 

Matt seems happier, though, and Natasha gets various texts from his teammates over the next few weeks.

 

**Jessica:** Hey Nat, thanks for getting Grace. I haven’t been dragged out to go save his ass in a few weeks, so he must be making at least slightly less stupid decisions. Thanks.

 

**Danny:** thanks 4 getting matt the dog!! he’s doing better, even if he’s still being grumpy about it :/ we love you!!

 

**Luke:** Claire hasn’t had to resuscitate Matt in a while, and the worst injury he’s gotten lately was  two cracked ribs, so that’s a pretty big change from his usual 4 broken ribs, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, and barely enough blood to be alive, so thank you. I don’t know how we can ever repay you.

 

**Frank:** The dumbass in the gimp suit must be doing better, because he’s actually useful in fights now. I avoided a bullet in my thigh thanks to him finally being at his best. Pretty happy about that.

 

**Matt:** Hey, Natasha. I owe you thanks. I didn’t realize how much I needed Grace’s help. She’s made me realize a lot. And I think she was exactly the support I needed. I love Foggy, but sometimes he’s a little overbearing. Thanks again.

 

Natasha’s feeling pretty good about everything so far, and with Matt’s dog now out of the way, she has a problem she’s been meaning to address. Time to go find a Wade Wilson…

**Author's Note:**

> Service dog facts of the day:
> 
> -First of all, I have no idea if dogs can parkour. I don't know if that's teachable, or even just physically possible. Please don't fight me about that. Just a disclaimer.
> 
> -This is kind of just a dog fact in general, but if you're approaching a dog you've never met before, and you get the feeling that they might be nervous, let them come to you. If you can, and you feel safe doing so, try to get your body as low to the ground as possible. This makes you look smaller, and less threatening. Try not to make eye contact. Making eye contact is usually the quickest way to scare a dog and spark an aggressive reaction.
> 
> -For the love of dogs, I feel like I shouldn't have to say this, but make sure that your dog is at a healthy weight, especially if they are going to be a service dog, and double especially if they're going to be a mobility service dog. I don't think I can stress that enough. Your dog should not be underweight, and your dog should not be overweight either! If you have a dog that you want to use for heavy mobility, and that dog is half your weight but most of that weight is in fat? Then your dog is not suited for mobility work, not in their current condition. You should not work a dog that is in bad health.
> 
> -Also, on the topic of what's healthy for a dog; try not to judge another person's dog based solely on appearance? Obviously there are times when this doesn't apply. If a person's dog has obviously untreated wounds, or is severely overweight or underweight to the point where it's a health risk by all means, speak up. But sometimes people will judge a dog that is at a healthy weight as "malnourished" because of the way dogs of that breed look. People are also just weird about judging a handler's ability to care for their dogs in general, but that's a rant for another day.
> 
> -For example, there's a handler on Youtube, a comedian named Drew Lynch, who has a Viszla service dog named Stella. Stella is in perfectly good health, but as part of her breed and just part of her appearance, her ribs are more prominently visible than people are used to. People have often argued that she's malnourished, despite the fact that multiple veterinarians have confirmed with Drew that yes, she's at a healthy weight, she just happens to look that way. She's fine.
> 
> Anyway, with all of that said, if you'd like to see drabbles or notes related to this series, or want to talk to me about this series or anything else, you can find me on tumblr [ here ](https://servicedogsforsuperheroes.tumblr.com)
> 
> Bucky's dog Fubar is based on the lovely webcomic [ Bucky and Fubar](https://buckyandfubar.tumblr.com/) by the amazing [ yawpkatsi ](https://yawpkatsi.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!!


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